Over the last couple of months I have made at least a half dozen trips down to Club Regent with Kathy. For those of you that don't know, the game of choice down there is a mildly butchered form of 1-2nl. The small minimum and cap buy-ins translates to heavy preflop and flop play with limited maneuvering on the turn and river. Anyway, I go down there to have some fun, give a few beats, and spend some quality time with Kathy.
I have noticed that everytime I go I see the same 20-30 faces. At least 50-60% of the field are regulars. What amazes me is that after playing each and everyday these 20-30 faces still can't grasp the basics of how to play poker. In fact, I have only come across 3-4 guys who had any idea of how to play good poker. I find that there are two types of players. The first is the calling station. This person will call any bet to see the flop with the 2 hole cards he/she likes. This player does not understand anything about pot odds, position, relative chip stacks, etc... Instead, he/she focuses only on the hole cards, seeing the flop, and choosing to continue if he/she hits the flop. This person does not generally bluff except when putting in one continuation bet after a preflop raise. This person is a big losing player. The second player, which I refer to the 1-2nl grinder, is a tight aggressive player. Generally, this person waits for top 20 hands before entering a pot and usually enters with a raise. This person usually bets the flop no matter what 'for information purposes' no matter how scary the flop is and this person usually has a hard time getting away from quasi big hands (such as an overpair or top pair top kicker). This person goes overkill on the math, understands some aspects of position, and can usually be found staring into their opponents soul when played back at. This second type of player is my favorite to crack, largely because they feel they know everything about the game and largely because they are typically young, arrogant, and way too serious at the table. Remember, poker is supposed to be fun first and everything else second otherwise you will never succeed.
Overall, I have done well at Club Regent even though I play like a jackass and never pass a hand before seeing the flop. I don't know the exact details, but I have won 5/6 times with one $800 loss and 3 wins over $1,000. My high variance is due to reckless play. The truth is a person could show up with a $300-400 float and play comfortably.
I don't have much time but I want to talk about a couple hands, one for sentimental reasons, one to illustrate an opponents total donkeyness, and one to illustrate my total donkeyness.
Hand #1
I have 98 hearts and raise to $10 early position. I have about $350. 5 players call and the flop is 763 two clubs. A short stack bets $30 and only has $50 left behind him. I decide to raise to $75 to isolate and hope everyone folds getting me heads up (risking $80 additional dollars to win a $210 pot with my hand seems like a fair investment - understanding that I'm in a gambling mood). Anyway, they all fold to Joe Montreal and he re-raises all in for $230 or so...oops I ran into a set. I have played with Joe enough in years past to know that the only hand he is going to show me is 77, 44, or 33. The short stack calls and I figure why not, let's gamble, Joe runs bad anyway. I tell him nice hand, that I'm just giving him action, and no hard feelings no matter what. He laughs and we turn over all of our hands. Joe shows 77, the short stack shows a9 clubs, and I have a lovely up and down vs the set and flush draw. The turn is the 10 of spades and river is j of diamonds. Nice call me, scalla. I could see the blood rush to Joe's face as he blows a $600 pot with top set. I felt kinda bad because he does run pretty bad, but I know he wouldn't have minded taking my money so I didn't lose any sleep over it. What was kind of amusing though was how Joe had to try his hardest to hold in his rage. He is an emotional player and typically would berate anyone else who gave him such a beat. However, I have lost to him before on big pots and laughed it off so he knew he had to give me the same respect, such is poker.
Hand #2
Last night a player I secretly referred to as 'Rockzilla' got involved with me in what started as a meaningless pot. 4 in the hand for a total of $8. Flop is ak4 all diamonds. I have j7 of diamonds. Everyone checks flop. Turn is offsuit 6. I bet $10. Rockzilla raises to $40. Now, I have been a little wild of late so I decide to raise again hoping to get paid off so I make it $110 total. Rockzilla pauses for awhile then declares all in for $500 total (I have him covered). My initial reaction was how do I fold here, but then I think it through. First, I have shown two thin calls to big river bets so if he had the nut flush he would push right there. Second, this guy has played very tight and has accumulated chips on big pots only showing the nuts. Third, this was a nothing pot and I could only think he could shove back here with the nuts. With anything less I think he would call to see what I do on the river as he has position. After some deliberation I fold and show face up. He proceeds to show me his monster 62 of diamonds. I kinda laugh and say nice hand. He says to me 'I can't believe you folded that' and I calmly reply 'I can't believe you put your life savings in on the 7th nut hand in a $8 pot. He then rationalized by saying 'I felt I had to either go all-in or fold'. Ah, the old low limit Phil Helmuth raise or fold technique. I think this train of thought is a little absurd. If I raise to $110 and he just calls the turn and I choose to bet the river my river bet will be somewhere between $120 to $175 (as the total pot would then be $220). He could see if I have him beat for an additional $120 to $175 as opposed to $500 more. Also, if for some reason I was bluffing he could induce the bluff (however, this is very unlikely as there is no reason to bluff a small pot). Anyway, his suicide play worked for him because he ran into me instead of the other 9 players at the table. In the 9 other situations he would be borrowing bus fair to get home.
Hand #3
I raise in early position to $12 with 65 clubs. 4 call and the flop is 732 one club. Two checks to me I decide to bet $35. The kid on the button raises to $70 total and only has another $100 behind him. Everyone else folds and for whatever reason I decide to just flat call (as I was doing it I was saying to myself what are you doing?). I have watched this kid have bad luck and I have noticed that when he decides to raise he is committed to the hand and will not fold. Anyway, I am not priced to gut him but I try anyway. The turn pairs the 3 and it is a club so I have now have a flush draw and gutter. I push all-in into him knowing he is going to call (another draw I am not really priced to go after). Sure enough he stubbornly calls showing 88, however, I come out smelling like a rose when the river is the K of clubs, man I run good at 1-2nl sometimes. This is clearly an example of your competition wearing off on you. I had been surrounded by donkeys all night and was now playing like one myself.
In total I made $1050 on the night and was happy I went down (Kathy won about $250 herself). I will continue to make occasional appearances as it is fun to see everyone and to blow off a little steam. The only poker this week was a 30/60 stud game on the 2nd where I suffered my first loss in about 20 sessions. It was minimal but I had many nightmares that night over the unbelievable beats I suffered from my good friends Rosie and Larry. I'm hoping to organize another big nl game in the next week and will likely play stud next Wednesday. Otherwise, I may dabble a bit online (although I'm trying to take a bit of a break).
Till next time.......
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